Great interview at Forbes, between Steve Forbes and Senator Ted Kaufman on the capital markets, naked short selling, the uptick rule, sponsored access, HFT (high frequency trading) and digitalization, dark pools, and fraud…
“Forbes: Finally, Fraud Enforcement Recovery Act.
Kaufman: Yeah, yeah.
Forbes: You’re proud of it.Kaufman: Yeah, I am.
Forbes: What it does, and what will it do?
Kaufman: OK, here’s what it did. After 9/11, we moved a lot of FBI agents over to cover terrorism, which we should have done. But we left only like 250 FBI agents in the country to cover financial fraud. We did more financial fraud cases in 2001 than we did in 2007, can you believe that? So, what we did with this financial and regulatory forum, with Pat Leahy, who is chairman of judiciary committee and Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican. It’s a bipartisan bill and we got a bill passed to give us more FBI agents, give us more prosecutors and to go after these folks. And so that’s basic what we passed, and we’re getting organized. Had a really good hearing of the judiciary committee. Rob Khuzami at the Securities Exchange Commission, Lanny Breuer’s head of the criminal division, Kevin [Perkins] from the FBI financial thing.
And we’re really, we’re going after this thing. And I know you agree with me. You know, if you, the folks that committed crimes while this thing was going on, we can all argue about what caused it or not, anybody who took advantage of this situation and lined their own pocket for it should go jail.”
That last paragraph really cracked me up, as F-ing IF!
Peons from the bottom up to somewhere mid-level will still “pay” though.
The second to last paragraph cracked me up laughing too. Red Is black.
Meanwhile, I’ve noticed a number of stores in my 5% unemployment town closing up for Feb. to remodel. One store even took the sign down off the outside wall. Maybe they Are doing a total remodel, but it seems odd that so many are doing so at the same time.
Connect the dots is a fun childs game too, it’s unfortunate most of the adults seem to have forgotten how to play.
That story you tell about not being afraid of/not seeing the petty street criminal as being the same as the Wall Street Banksters… that is so true, more proof every day, and now the “non-criminals” who rub shoulders with the Wall Street Banksters are looking pretty bad too, or at the very least, ignorant as all hell get out.